Why You're Lucky You Don't Know James
by Falconflight
Summary: James S. Potter decides to live up to his name on Halloween by daring all the next-gen Weasleys  and friends  at Hogwarts to go into the Forbidden Forest. Oh dead wizard God, this will be a disaster. Set in the same year as SDP.
1. Chapter 1

_**So, I'm starting another HP fanfic. I know you have that look on your face; she's probably not going to finish this one either. WRONG! I plan to finish this before Halloween, since this is a Halloween-centric fic. Most of the chapters will be pretty short, but I was originally going to make is a one-shot, and that was too long, so I decided to make it into a choppy multi-chaptered fic. I've already got the first four chapters written, so prepare for speedy updates. Also, R&R**_

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><p><strong>Why You're Lucky You Don't Know James<strong>

**Chapter 1**

**James' POV**

James Sirius Potter walked down to the Great Hall grinning like an idiot. Everyone who knew him knew that when James grinned like an idiot, either something really good happened or he was planning an extravagant prank. That was usually more of a smirk, though.

Today, he was grinning because his plan/prank for Halloween (which was that night) was going perfectly. He had charged his friends with informing all the other Weasleys and other assorted personal of their Halloween plans, and so far, everyone had agreed. James just had a couple more people he had to recruit, and he decided that he wanted to convince them personally to come with the Weasleys and co. to the Forbidden Forest at night instead of waiting around on the Quidditch pitch pranking people.

James marched strait over to the Slytherin table. He hadn't actually managed to find Scorpius Malfoy, but he had located his two close friends: Vincent Goyle and Jay Flint. "Morning, gents."

The two Slytherins looked up, but before either could respond, he heard another voice answer. "What do you want?"

James turned. He smiled; just the person he was looking for. "There you are, Scorp!"

The young blonde Slytherin had to bite the inside of his mouth to prevent himself from snapping back. "Is there something you want?" he repeated.

"You're going down to the Quidditch pitch tonight, right?" James pressed.

"I need to help Jay with his Herbology report," Scorpius answered.

"It's Halloween!" James insisted.

Scorpius' eyebrows narrowed. "I know. Why do you care about my plans?"

James struggled to prevent his grin from cracking even wider. "I have special… plans that I've been throwing together for awhile. It'd mean _a lot _to me if you joined in. You can bring your nobody Slytherin friends with you."

"Hey!" Vincent and Jay exclaimed at the same time.

"What kind of plans?" Scorpius demanded.

"Me, my cousins, my siblings, and some family friends are going to sneak into the Forbidden Forest," James explained.

"How thick are you?" Scorpius looked slightly perplexed. "That sounds more like suicide than fun."

"But you agree that it sounds a little bit like fun?" James asked.

"No!" Scorpius exclaimed. "No! I'm not doing it; none of us are."

James sighed and feigned being hurt. "Oh well. I'll just have to tell Roxie and Rose that you three chickened out; they'll probably get a kick out of it."

Scorpius' cheeks became red. James couldn't tell if it was from rage or embarrassment; people's cheeks tended to flush when they had a crush on someone. James turned away and prepared to walk away. He knew he didn't need to walk away, though. They would give in. They always did.

"Scorpius, please!" Jay begged.

"Yeah; it sounds like fun!" Vincent agreed.

"No! This is exactly what Potter wants to happen," Scorpius snapped.

_Potter? _James thought. He was genuinely hurt by that; he had thought that he had scared the crap out of Scorpius enough to be called by his first name.

"We'll be hated on if we don't," Jay reminded him.

"We'll be cowards forever…" Vincent muttered.

"Well, it's a good thing we're not Gryffindors," Scorpius hissed.

"Please…" the two pleaded together.

James nearly smirked as he heard Scorpius grumble in defeat. "Did I mention that whoever comes running out screaming will remembered for the rest of our time at Hogwarts as the biggest wimp?" he added. This time he did smirk.

"If we do get caught, it'll be your fault," Scorpius snarled.

"Don't worry; we won't," James assured him. He wasn't actually sure of that, but there was no need to tell Scorpius that.


	2. Chapter 2

_**So, I decide to plunge right into the heart of the action. I also began to set up some of the pairings that will appear in this fanfic (which will primarily be LorcanXLucy, RoxanneXScorpius and LilyXPhillip from SDP). I'll try and get at least one chapter from every Weasley's POV and give as much coverage as possible, but I'll mostly be focusing on the afore mentioned characters.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

**Lorcan's POV**

"This is stupid," Lorcan repeated as they trekked towards the Forbidden Forest.

"That's like the fifth time you've said that," Lysander complained.. O

"Well it's true," Lorcan grumbled. "I can't believe we're doing this."

Lysander scoffed. "This was **your **idea. Remember? 'Oh, Lysander! It'll be fun! And Lucy will be there! And it'll be **dark**. And it'll be **so **romantic when Lucy comes running to me, frightened. And I'll comfort her, and-'"

"I didn't sound like that," Lorcan muttered. He had said something along those lines, but he was convinced that he didn't sound as stupid as Lysander did. And he hadn't stressed the fact that it would be dark.

"Hey! You two came!"

Lorcan was glad it was pitch black because he was pretty sure his face turned red when Lucy had greeted them. Lorcan could, however, make out Lysander's smirk as he began to stammer. Lorcan nearly elbowed him, but that would attract attention to the fact that he was embarrassed.

"Of course we did, Lucy," Lysander spoke up at last. "Lorcan was determined to come here, right brother?"

Lorcan decided he hated his brother. "Yeah," he managed at last.

"So, where's everyone else?" Lysander asked, breaking the silence that followed.

"In a clearing close by," Lucy explained. "I'll show you the way."

"I'm not entirely sure what we're doing," Lysander admitted.

"Well, we have to be in the Forbidden Forest all the time," Lucy explained. "Caroline Goodwin, Lily's friend, is waiting at the edge. She'll be the one who records the first person to run out screaming."

"I remember now," Lysander interrupted. "The first person who runs out will be remembered as the biggest wimp. At least if it's one of us, we only have one more year left."

"Thank God," Lorcan mumbled under his breath.

"Did you say something?" Lucy asked, looking at him.

"No," Lorcan stammered quickly.

Lucy stared at him for a few seconds longer. "If anybody gets injured, we fire red sparks into the sky. When the first person runs out, Caroline will fire green sparks into the sky, and-"

Suddenly, Lucy stopped. They had reached a grassy clearing bathed in pale silver light. Lorcan looked around; it was completely deserted. Lorcan turned to Lucy, but she looked as perplexed as he felt.

"Well, there's nobody here," Lysander announced.

"No duh!" Lorcan hissed. Anxiety and fear was rising in his chest.

"This is the right clearing…" Lucy muttered.

"We'll just go back the way we came," Lysander replied dismissively.

They turned around, but the forest looked the same from every direction. The trees looked similar in the dim light. They didn't remember which way they had come in.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Okay, this may be a little late and seem like shameless advertisment, but reading SDP (the Scammander Dating Program) first may help with some confusion revolving around OCs, specifically all of Lily's friends, Erica, Jay, Vincent and Phillip. So, go R&R that as well as this.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

**Roxanne's POV**

"Come on!" Erica wailed.

_I'm an idiot, _Roxanne thought as she followed Erica through a tangle of bare branches. Well, technically she was following the dim light of her wand; she could barely see her friend anymore.

James had ordered them to split up into pairs (there were only two exceptions). Erica had jumped onto her as soon as he announced it. Each pair only got one wand to light the way (the other could only be used for self-defense). They had started without Lucy, Lorcan and Lysander. James had claimed that it would "make it more fun", but Roxanne was convinced that someone had spiked his pumpkin juice that morning.

_Not this morning, _Roxanne decided as another branch cut her leg. _About three months ago when he first had this crazy idea._

The worst part was that her best friend was completely on board with this suicide mission.

"Come on! If we try hard enough, we can send Scorpius running screaming like a girl!" Erica insisted.

"Malfoy," Roxanne mumbled as she finally caught up with Erica. "His name is Malfoy."

"Suuuuuuure," Erica replied. She was probably rolling her eyes.

Roxanne resented her friends' constant assumptions that she and Scorpius liked each other. "I like Scorpius as much as you like Fred," Roxanne shot back.

Roxanne wasn't the only one in denial about a crush (a nonexistent crush, but that's beside the point). She expected Erica to blush a bit and mumble something about not liking Fred. Instead, Erica grinned. "A lot, then?"

"No!" Roxanne cried loudly.

Something shifted in the trees as Roxanne shouted out. She instantly pulled out her wand and began to step away, but Erica slowly walked towards the place where the noise had come from. _Idiot. _Grumbling, Roxanne followed her friend. _So going to regret doing this. Erica owes me big time when we get out of this mess._

The noise had just come from the trio of Slytherins. James had made an exception for Sco- Malfoy and his friends so that none of his other relatives started making out with Slytherins. He had also made an exception for Lily's friends and Hugo, but that was beside the point. Scor- Malfoy was clutching his lit wand like it was his entire life. It probably was, but his two friends were pathetically hunched around the light.

"Oh," Scorp- Malfoy said, as if he was unimpressed. All three of them relaxed.

Roxanne tried to think of something witty to tell them, but nothing came to mind. Luckily (or unluckily), she didn't have to. A loud howl/scream sound rung through the forest. The Slytherins panicked and scattered in different directions. Sco- Malfoy ran off with his wand illuminated and left his friends in the dark, so Erica went off to bring light to Malfoy's friends. Roxanne, forced to follow the only light source or be left blind, sprinted after Malfoy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Lily's POV**

The scream was actually Lily crying out in pain and Phillip swearing very loudly. Morrigan, Jane and Hugo (yes, James allowed them to be in a group of three) had decided to pair up, which left Lily to deal with her frienemy. She had just stepped on a sharp wooden spike that went straight through her shoe.

"Sit down," Phillip commanded.

"So you can just abandon me?" Lily demanded, gritting her teeth. Phillip had the wand.

Phillip didn't answer. Instead, he crouched down and observed the sharp stick. After Phillip looked at it from many different angles, Lily's patience snapped.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"My mother said that if you don't pull something like this out right, it'll leave a splinter," Phillip explained. His mother was a Muggle nurse. Lily wasn't sure what a nurse was, but she assumed it was a kind of Muggle healer.

"I would've thought you'd like to leave a splinter," Lily commented.

"Don't make me change my mind," Phillip muttered.

Lily was slightly surprised; this was unusual for Phillip. He usually didn't do things like this. Fortunately for her, the wand light was focused on her wound, so Phillip didn't see her blush. Finally, he stood up.

"You're lucky; it went straight in," Phillip announced. "The only problem is that I'm going to have to pull it straight out."

"I can do it myself," Lily muttered.

"You won't be able to get it straight out," Phillip insisted.

"Then get it over with," Lily snapped in defeat.

"Okay, on three," Phillip said. He crouched down a gripped the stick. "One."

Lily yelped as Phillip yanks the stick out.. Pain shot through her foot. "Maybe you forgot how to count," she muttered through gritted teeth, "but one and three aren't the same thing."

"I know," Phillip replied. "Anticipation is always the worst part. It's out now, though, so stop complaining."

"Thank you," Lily told him sincerely.

Phillip's cheeks brightened. "You're welcome, Now, let's get going before things get even weirder."

"Weirder?" Lily echoed.

"Yeah. We're not fighting; something paranormal must be happening soon," Phillip explained, chuckling.

"It won't last long," Lily assured him. "We both know you're going to say something stupid and insulting, and the moment will be ruined." Lily laughed as she got up.

"Most likely," Phillip agreed.

They both laughed at that.

"What are we doing?" Lily asked when the laughing fit was over.

"We're chilling," Phillip replied as if it was obvious.

"In the middle of the Forbidden Forest?" Lily pressed. "We're supposed to hate each other."

"Supposed to?" Phillip frowned.

"It's what's expected," Lily murmured cautiously. She realized she was treading in dangerous waters. One wrong word and the little bit of friendship she had built with Phillip would be ruined.

"Fine then," Phillip snapped. Lily mentally groaned; this was bad. "If it's what's expected…"

Phillip turned and charged off, taking the light of his wand with him. Lily shouted his name. She was suddenly very scared and afraid. She wasn't just afraid for herself, though. No third year would last two minutes out there alone.

"Phillip! I didn't mean it like that!" Lily cried in one last attempt to get his attention.

The last of Phillip's wand light was swallowed by the inky night. Lily's breath hitched as she realized how utterly alone she was. She barely whispered _lumos_, but he wand tip lit up anyway. Its light illuminated two pairs of dark, glinting eyes.

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><p><strong><em>Yes, that was on purpose. No, you won't find out what it is next chapter. Next-next chapter, I think. Until then, review! Please!<em>**


	5. Chapter 5

_**I told you the updates would be speedy! This one's my longest so far, but that's because I had to do a lot of James reflection on whether the idea was a good one. It's becoming rather clear that it isn't a good idea, isn't it?**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

**James' POV**

"Are you sure about this?" Fred mumbled.

James turned to his best friend with a look of horror. Was he serious? Fred had been the one who supported the idea since he had first proposed it during the last week of summer. Fred had pushed the idea when James himself had doubts and had convinced almost everybody (which includes Head Girl Lucy, the Scamanders and Rose) to come. And now he was doubting their choice?

"Who are you and what have you done to Fred Weasley?" James asked.

Fred glared at him. "You must be a little bit worried about Al and Lily," he insisted.

James wouldn't deny that he was worried about his siblings. Al was with Rose, though, who was the smartest witch aside from her mum, and Lily would probably Bat-Bogey hex the living crap out of anything that threatened her. He knew Fred was more than a little bit worried about Roxanne, though. It probably came with being twins.

James wouldn't reveal that he was worried about his siblings, though; it would make it worse. "They'll be fine."

Fred looked like he was about to say something, but a loud crashing from further into the forest distracted them. Fred hurried towards the noise. James followed him. In any other situation, it probably would've been James running towards the ominous noise and Fred who had the sense to stay behind. James knew he was hoping to find Roxanne, though.

What he found, however, was Erica, who had dyed her hair to glow in the dark, and two Slytherins following her like she was a goddess. In other circumstances, Fred would've been glad to see his best-friend-that's-a-girl/crush-he's-in-denial-about, but as James caught up with him, he knew what he looked so crestfallen. Erica had been friends with Roxanne. And Roxanne wasn't there.

James decided to take the most cheerful approach he good. "Well, this won't do. A group of five breaks the rules. Jay, Vincent, you two come with me. Fred and Erica, you two will be in a group."

Fred barely nodded as he walked off with Erica. Neither of them looked too very happy. _And I'm going to get the hate for that._ When they were well out of sight, James grabbed the nearest Slytherin (Jay) by the collar.

"Where's Roxie?" James demanded.

"Easy, Potter," Jay answered. He slowly removed James' hands from his collar. "She's with Scorpius."

"We assume," Vincent added.

"Assume?" James echoed angrily.

"We were too busy running," Vincent admitted sadly. "I think they ran off in the same direction."

"Why were you running?" James pressed.

"We heard a scream," Jay explained, staring at his shoes. "We sort of panicked."

"Slytherins," James muttered. "No bravery whatsoever."

"Well, it was loud!" Jay snapped defensively. "In this forest… you would've run too!"

James refused to reveal that the real reason he was angry at them for running was because the scream could've come from a family member. Or something about to eat a family member. "Can you describe the scream?"

Both of them stared at him oddly. "It was sort of female-ish," Vincent offered at last.

"Sort of? Ish? I need answers!" James hissed.

"Well, it started off female," Jay elaborated. "Then we heard a male voice that was even louder. It sounded like a swear; I think it was-"

James didn't hear the last part. His mind was too busy reeling over all the possibilities of whose scream it was. Only two of his female relatives (excluding Lucy) had been paired up with males. Hugo was with some of Lily's friends, but Andrew Wood's younger sister (Morgan or something like that) had seemed like a force to be reckoned with. Rose was with Al, but they were fifth years. They could take care of themselves. That left Lily and Phillip.

For some reason, James couldn't shake the suspicion that it had been Lily and Phillip. It had been his sister that had cried out and her frienemy (they also liked each other but were in denial about it) who had swore. Fear knotted its way into James' stomach, and he realized why Fred had been so worried about Roxanne.

"Which way did the scream come from?" James demanded.

"Which way-?" Vincent echoed, confused.

"It's sort of hard to tell from right here," Jay confessed. "I don't know the exact direction that we ran in, and I lost my sense of direction a while ago-"

_Useless Slytherins, _James thought, irritated. He remembered how he had chosen the directions that each group headed in. "_Point Me!_" he exclaimed with vigor.

His wand spun around, and James turned so he was facing north. _**N**__ever __**e**__at __**s**__oggy… _James thought as he cycled through the cardinal coordinates. "This way!" he cried, sprinting off in the general direction of west. _It's a start._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Okay, so this is a bit of a filler. But I had to get Lucy and Lorcan alone somehow.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

**Lysander's POV**

"Maybe we should fire sparks into the air or something," Lorcan suggested.

"They'd think someone was injured," Lucy reminded him. "We'd get so much hate."

"You're probably right," Lorcan agreed quickly.

Lysander nearly rolled his eyes as he trudged behind them. Why didn't they just confess they liked each other? _They don't realize they like each other, _Lysander told himself calmly. _They've liked each other for years, and they still don't realize it. They're just slow. Maybe I should give them a nudge in the right direction…_

"So Lucy, are you still dating McClaggen?" Lysander asked, not looking up.

There was no response. "Lucy?"

Maybe Lucy was just embarrassed. Lorcan would've said something insulting at the mere mention of McClaggen, though. He didn't say anything either. Lysander looked up and realized he was alone in the dark. He quickly lit the tip of his wand, but Lorcan and Lucy were gone.

_Oh crap, _Lysander thought. _Oh crap, crap, crap!_

"Lorcan!" Lysander exclaimed. "Are you trying to get back at me for putting that potion in your pumpkin juice that one time? I said I was sorry for that!"

There was no response from the trees. Fear gripped Lysander, and he seriously considered running away as fast as he could in a random direction. He'd probably only run into something really nasty if he did that, though. So Lysander forced himself to walk straight in the direction he assumed Lucy and Lorcan went in. Suddenly, he saw wand light. Hope flooded Lysander and he began to run to it. His hopes of finding his brother and friend were dashed when he heard the voice of the wand holder.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" demanded a voice far too low to be Lorcan.

"I'll check again if you want me to," a familiar but rough voice female offered. She sounded pissed, so it definitely wasn't Lucy. "_Point Me._" There was a pause. "I **told **you we were going north!"

"Excuse me, Weasley. I just don't want to get lost," the male voice snapped.

_A Weasley, _Lysander thought. _Rose, or Roxanne, I think._

"I see someone!" the male exclaimed suddenly. His wand light fell on Lysander.

"Is it Fred?" Roxanne asked nervously.

"It's not your brother," the other one hissed. "It's a Scamander; I can't tell which one." Light fell upon the pale face of Scorpius Malfoy.

"They don't look that much alike." Lysander had been right; it was Roxanne. "Hello, Lysander."

"Did you two see Lorcan or Lucy?" Lysander asked.

"No," Roxanne answered. "Are they with you?"

"They were," Lysander explained. "I don't know where they are now; that's why I asked you."

"We didn't see them," Malfoy cut in.

"Where are you two going?" Lysander pressed.

"Out," Roxanne said. "If we keep heading north, we'll get out of here."

"We both agreed that Potter wasn't thinking when he came up with this plan," Malfoy expanded. "We're going to convince Potter- Lily's friend to call it off."

"Wait, how do you know what direction north is?" Lysander asked, confused.

"_Point me,_" Roxanne commanded. Her wand spun around until it pointed in a single direction that Lysander assumed was north.

"Oh," Lysander muttered, slightly embarrassed.

He saw Malfoy smirked. "Wow, you're a seventh year **and **a Ravenclaw, and you don't know that spell? Shameful."

"Shut up," Lysander snapped. His nerves had been a bit too frayed to think about a simple spell like that.

"Sco- Malfoy, lay off of Lysander," Roxanne hissed.

"Did I hear a bit of my first name in there?" Malfoy was grinning like an idiot.

"Shut up or I'll leave you here," Roxanne threatened.

Lysander doubted that she would actually abandon him, but Malfoy didn't know that. The threat of being left to defend himself forced him into submission. Roxanne smiled slightly.

"Good. Now, let's get going."


End file.
